Stencil-holder.



No. 877,972. PATENTED FEB. 4, 1908.

P. J. WEBER, JR. STENCIL HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED 1107.6,1907.

UNITED sTaTns PHILIP .I. WEBER, JR,

STENCIL- Application filed November 6 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP J. I/VEBER, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at I Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stencil-Holders, of which j the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stencil holders, and the object of the invention is to provide means for temporarily securing a stencil in position upon the box, packing case or other object to be marked.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for yieldingly holding the stencil a slight distance away from the surface to be marked.

I'accomplish my objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stencil equipped with a stencil holder embodying my invention. The stencil and holder are shown. in position upon a box or packing case. Fig. 2 is a side sectional view, and Fig. 3 a plan view of the holder in position upon the casing.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

It is well known to those accustomed to use stencils that considerable difficulty is often experienced in preventing the stencil from shifting its position while the marking brush is being passed over the surface of the stencil. Of course a slight displacement of the stencil will spoil the effect, first, because a portion of the marking will be out of place, and, second, because the stencil will, in its movement, blur the fresh paint or other pigment which has been already applied by the marking brush. I have remedied this difficulty by furnishing the stencil with means adapted to engage the packing box and prevent shifting of the stencil, the holding means being readily adjustable to and detachable from the packing case or other object to be stenciled. In the preferred form of holding means a post 5 is secured to the stencil 6, preferably by means of a screw 7. An arm 8 is pivoted to said post so as to rotate about a horizontal axis 9. At one end of said arm is a cap 10 which has three interior surfaces arranged at right angles to each other, in consequence of which it is adapted to engage the top, end and side of a packing case or similar object. It is desirable that said cap consist of two interiorly Specification of Letters Patent.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOLDER.

Patented Feb. 4, 1908.

. 1907. Serial No. 401.019-

beveled prongs or fingers as shown. At the opposite end of said arm 8 is a handle 11 by means of which the arm and cap may be raised and lowered. A spring 12 is arranged between the arm 8 and post 5 in such manner as to urge cap 10 upward into position to engage the corner of the packing case. In the preferred form, spring 12 is a helical compression spring mounted in a socket 13 in the post 12 and located on the opposite side of the axis 9 from the cap 10. As a result of this construction only a small portion. of the spring 12 is exposed at any time, thus protecting it from displacement from contact with exterior objects and yet rendering it practical to employ a comparatively long spring.

In adjusting the stencil and holder to the packing case, it is necessary merely to lay the stencil in position and at the same time press down the handles 11 to a sufficient extent to let the caps fit freely over the corners of the case. As soon as the parts are in position the handle 11 is released and the spring 12 holds the cap firmly in position. As said cap has, in its preferred form, three surfaces, arranged at right angles to each other, two caps are sufficient to effectually prevent motion of the stencil in any direction. When it is desired to remove the stencil, all that is necessary is to depress the handles slightly which will cause the caps to be released from the case. The entire apparatus may then be lifted. I

When a stencil lies flat upon the surface to be marked blurring is frequently caused by the pigment being drawn by capillary attraction to parts of the surface other than the ones immediately beneath the marking apertures in the stencil. I obviate this difficulty by yieldingly supporting the stencil a slight distance away from the surface to be marked.

The marking brush then passing over the stencil will force the stencil temporarily into contact with the surface, but the stencil will rise as soon as the brush has left the spot. The preferred means of accom lishing this result is best shown in Fig. 2. y reference to this figure it will be seen that the head 14 of the screw 7 projects beneath the lower surface of the stencil 6 and consequently holds the stencil at a slight distance from the surface of the box.

I propose to have the stencil and holder so proportioned with reference to the size of the box that the holding apparatus will set up a moderate degree of tension in the stencil when the caps are in adjusted position. The distance between the screw head 14 and the axis 9 will act as a lever in producing tension in the body of the stencil itself.

It will be understood that the design and material of the holding device may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example the springs 12 might be omitted, for as apparent in the drawings, the arm is overbalanced in such manner as to tend to hold it with the prongs 10 down in acting position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, with a stencil, of inde pendent arms secured thereto at different locations and adapted to disengagingly engage the corners of a rectangular packing box and means for causing said arms to tend normally to assume acting position.

2. The combination, with a stencil, of a pair of arms secured thereto, each having means for disengagingly engaging two side surfaces of a rectangular packing box, said arms being located diagonally op osite to each other, whereby a single pair 0 arms revents the stencil from slippmg in any irection upon the surface to be marked.

3. In combination, with a stencil, of a pair of arms secured thereto each having means for disengagingly engaging two side surfaces of a rectangular acking box said arms being located diagonal y opposite to each other and means acting upon said arms for causing them to normally assume acting position.

4. The combination with a stencil of posts carriedby said arms and adapted to engage the corners of a rectangular parallelepiped, springs interposed between said posts and said arms for the purpose described, and handles for operating said arms against the force of said springs.

6. In combination a polygonal stencil, means located at opposite corners of said stencil and Iprojecting beneath the lower surface thereo for raising the stencil from the surface to be marked, and means adapted to temporarily hold the stencil in position upon the surface to be marked.

7. In combination a poly onal stencil, downward projections located at opposite corners of said stencil for raising the stencil from the surface to be marked, posts located at said projections and rising from the surface of the stencil and means adapted to draw the upper ends of said posts outward, said drawing means being adapted to engage the corners of a rectangular parallelepiped.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

PHILIP J. WEBER, JR.

Witnesses:

HOWARD M. Cox, 0. J. OHRIs'roFFEL. 

